“Mum, there’s a big present right at the back. It says ‘Hunny’,” Charli struggled to say while on her knees with her bum in the air and her head deep in the depths of the Christmas tree reaching for the present.
“Oooh,” I beamed, finding Bryce’s knowing smile as I quickly got up from the sofa.
“It’s big,” she whined as she dragged it out.
Once it was free from the confines of the tree, the odd shape of the box kind of gave its’ contents away. My face lit up as I lifted it and carried it back to the couch, sitting down next to Bryce. I couldn’t help but happy-dance as I opened it, while letting out my own high-pitched squeal.
I lifted and opened the box to find a guitar case, and turning to Bryce with a smile so bright that the muscles in my face stretched under the strain, I mouthed thank you.
Running my hands over the case, I unlatched it and took hold of my guitar, my very first guitar. As I lifted it out of the box, I noticed a pretty design on the front with a bird and some flowers—it was gorgeous.
“Nice!” Lucy commended. “Is that a Hummingbird?”
I studied the bird a little more closely. “Oh, so it is. The bird is a hummingbird, how sweet.”
Lucy and Bryce laughed at my discovery, exchanging expressions of a private joke.
“Yeah,” Bryce answered, “True Vintage.”
“Of course it is,” she acknowledged.
“What?” I asked. “Am I supposed to understand what the two of you are referring to?”
“Nope,” Bryce replied and pulled me in for a quick kiss.
“Well, thank you anyway. I love it, it’s perfect.”
“I’ve got something for you too,” I said sneakily, then whispering into his ear I added. “This is a decoy. You’ll get your real present later.”
He eyed me suspiciously as I handed him the box.
“No pressure,” I said as he opened it.
He laughed and lifted out the motorcycle helmet.
“I couldn’t see that you had one, so I figured that if you were going to take the plunge, you’d need a helmet.”
“Thanks, and you’re right, I don’t have one.” He leaned closer to me. “What about you? You’ll need a helmet too.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I’m one step ahead of you.”
***
Later that night in bed, I asked Bryce why he gave Rick a Hotel Family Card.
“You didn’t have to give Rick one, you know. You already gave him five million dollars.”
He sighed. “Hunny, can we not talk about my paying Rick? I might not regret offering him the money and having a hand in forcing the truth out of him, but I do regret bribing him with something I had a good idea he could not refuse.”
“No, I don’t mean it like that. What I mean is, because of you he can afford to stay anywhere in the world as it is, so why give him a card?”
He stroked my face gently, “Because it’s a Family Card, and he is your family and always will be.”
“Yes, he will be,” I honestly replied.
He would always be family. We shared two beautiful children and a lifetime of memories, but we’d both moved on with our lives and in just a few weeks would be officially divorced.
***
A few days later, I knocked on the door of my former house, my children behind me with their suitcases.
“Mum, how long are you going to be in Italy for?” Nate asked. “I want to come.”
“Next time, Sweetheart, I promise. This trip is for work and it’s only for a few days. I’ll see you both next weekend though.”
Nate slumped his shoulders.
“I’ll bring you back a Ferrari?” I offered, enticingly.
“A real one?”
I thought about my answer carefully, knowing he meant a full-sized one and I meant a scaled version. A toy one is still real if it’s from Italy, isn’t it?
“Yeah,” I answered.
“Sick!”
Rick opened the door and let us in. “You still have your key, Alexis. You can use it.”
“I know. I’m still not going to let myself in, though, especially after last time.”
He gave me a sarcastic grin.
“What? I honestly didn’t know she had no shoes,” I defensively answered, remembering when I’d kicked Claire out of the house due to my crazy anger.
“Sure,” he teased.
I followed him into the kitchen, still feeling a little nostalgic at my surroundings. “Where are Claire and RJ?”
“RJ had a friend’s birthday party,” he explained.
“Right.” I took a seat at the dining table. “Listen, I have the eh...” I opened my handbag to pull out the Application for Divorce. “...the divorce papers,” I said nervously.